


smack dab in the middle of february

by orphan_account



Series: All Written by Same Author [36]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, BUT!! i think there's a line that could imply that but it's really meant to be taken at face value, Brothers, Cheesy, Don't Repost Onto Another Site, Family Fluff, Fish, Friendship, Gen, Good Parent Uchiha Tajima, Implied/Referenced Family Member Death, Jealousy, Soup, This is just good ol' fluff, Valentine's Day Fluff, also set in winter because i want to escape the heat, but i dont think it qualifies as angst thats how brief it is, don't copy onto another site, enjoy, fiiiiish, no child abuse not even (intentionally) referenced child abuse, okay so maybe not entirely fluff, sooouuuupp, tobi and izuna are just cute little kids okay??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:40:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26593837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Madara and Hashirama are totally dating. Tobirama resorts to stalking to prove Izuna wrong.Written for Izuna Appreciation Week, Day Four:Izanagiand/orSecret Relationship
Relationships: Senju Hashirama & Senju Tobirama, Senju Hashirama/Uchiha Madara, Senju Tobirama & Uchiha Izuna, Uchiha Izuna & Uchiha Madara
Series: All Written by Same Author [36]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2032297
Comments: 12
Kudos: 68
Collections: Izuna Appreciation Week





	smack dab in the middle of february

**Author's Note:**

> …im kinda fond of it. not really sure about the flow, tho

"Oh, Hashirama, you _bedazzle_ me. I love you!"

"Kiss me, Madara!"

Tobirama rips the binoculars from Izuna's hands.

"I thought you said you could read lips! That's not what they're saying at _all_!"

Izuna snorts. Reading lips, honestly—he's eight, not _Jack Bauer_.

"It might as well be."

Tobirama glares at him, adamant that Madara and Hashirama aren't dating. Izuna believes the opposite—their brothers are high schoolers, that's what they _do._

"I'm confi– _confiscating_ these."

"Oh, come _ooon_. It's Valentine's Day, what else would they be saying? And hey, you still haven't told me what you want for your birthday! I've only got a couple days, you know?"

Tobirama sneers before ducking his head back into his scarf, trying to warm his nose. Izuna does feel a twinge of pity for him—must be hard, being so cold-blooded.

"Fine, I'll just pick up a piece of asphalt from the blacktop, then. See how you like that." 

Tobirama hums, putting the binoculars to his eyes and rearing back in pain. His eyes aren't so good, and the magnified, bright reflection of the snow probably blinded him. Izuna almost sniggers, but remembers how Madara used to dare him to look directly at the sun. Ouch. …Mama wasn't the happiest about that.

"We have to get closer." Tobirama declares. 

"Uhh, no we don't. It's a perfectly good day—you could get soup at my house!"

"You and your soup." Tobirama mutters, still blinking his eyes in pain.

"Fine then, we can have my dad's fish—just stop stalking your brother, will you?"

Tobirama perks up, but remains largely unconvinced.

"You're here, too." He says accusingly. He shrugs. "But you can tell your dad hi for me. His fish is good." 

That's basically one of the nicest things Tobirama ever says and _means,_ so Izuna makes note to pass on the compliment again.

"Why do you care so much? If they're not dating, why're you so worried? They're just two bros, staring _deeply_ into each others' eyes on Valentine's Day."

Izuna's been trying to drill this into Tobirama for the past four days, fed up when he refused to come to Izuna's house for his birthday. _“Hashirama will be there! If I come, he'll find out my best friend is Madara's ‘baby brother’. Then it will_ **_never_ ** _end!”_

Jerk. Maybe Izuna really will just get him a broken piece of asphalt. (He's got a sneaking suspicion Tobirama would _actually_ accept it as a form of apologizing to him.)

Tobirama, amazingly, does deflate at that. He's a smart guy—he can't live in denial forever. He fiddles with the binoculars, obviously avoiding response.

"Why do you dislike my brother so much? Would it really be so bad if they were dating?"

Tobirama wraps his arms around himself, trying to pass it off as him being cold, but he's not meeting Izuna's eyes.

"You can tell me, you know? I'm not gonna go away if you don't like my brother. _He's_ not your best friend—I am."

Tobirama frowns.

"…I just. I thought he'd tell me, you know? Spending so much time out of the house, leaving me with Father…" Tobirama shrugs, more to himself than Izuna. "I always thought he'd tell me why." 

Oh. Tobirama has mentioned that his dad is stressful, but that having Hashirama around helps. So for his brother to be gallivanting off with Madara without a word probably feels akin to betrayal or loss. 

Izuna… can admit to having similar feelings, now that Mama and his other siblings are… _gone_. The house is lonely when Dad's at work. He's just really glad that Tobirama is usually down to come by whenever their brothers are out. Their houses are pretty close, only separated by Naka Park—where they're currently stalking their brothers. 

"…Okay. Then you should just come over. They're probably going to eat at my house anyways—Madara doesn't like your brother's 'spending habits'. When they see us, I think we'll all know that we all _know_. …Or something."

Tobirama pauses readjusting his scarf and jacket. His eyes seem to take an interest in their surroundings, but Izuna knows that means he's thinking.

"…M'kay. Can we still have your dad's fish?"

Izuna smiles and nods, unzipping Tobirama's dinosaur bone-patterned backpack for the binoculars. Tobirama shoves them in before putting his backpack on, and he holds out a gloved hand for Izuna. Nodding, Izuna leads them off the play structure, careful to make sure they aren't seen by their brothers.

Sneaking out of one of the side gates, Izuna and Tobirama soon reach Izuna's house, plucking the door key out of a potted plant. Inside, they take their hand-me-down boots off at the entrance, shoving their scarves into their jacket pockets before putting those and the backpack on the low table around the corner.

Tobirama gets a pan on the stove as Izuna takes out the leftover fish from the fridge. They refry it with only a few inconveniences, long since agreed that the microwave ruins the texture. Izuna sniffs. _Soup_ doesn't have that problem.

"When's your dad getting back, again?"

Izuna shrugs. He can't read a clock and he doesn't have a fancy digital watch like Hashirama. 

"Like, five-ish? You probably can't stay that long, right?" 

"I can't. You can still tell him hi for me, right?" 

"Duh." Izuna begins to mock Dad, " _‘Finally, some intelligent company, Izuna.’_ —He likes you."

Tobirama preens at that and eats his fish with more vigor. The front door opens as Izuna takes his own bite, Hashirama's voice ringing out.

"These look like my old boots! Haha, what a coincidence!"

"Wait, these ones were what Izuna wore today… IZUNA!" Madara shouts, suddenly mad.

Tobirama and Izuna share an exasperated look. Oh, dear. Taking a deep breath, Izuna gives Tobirama an apologetic smile, prompting him to cover his ears.

"WHAT?"

"ARE YOU DITCHING CLASS!?"

"NO, IT'S HALF-DAY! ARE _YOU_?"

Madara's face comes into view, looking somewhat chastised. Izuna _knew_ it! High schoolers _don't have_ half-days!

"Uh, no, um, that is– Oh. Why's…?"

Hashirama's face pops out from around Madara, instantly catching sight of Tobirama.

"Tobi? What're you doing here?"

Tobirama takes his hands off his ears. 

"Eating."

"...Well, _yeah_ , but why here?"

"The fish is good." 

Izuna gasps in offense. Tobirama rolls his eyes.

"Company is okay, too, I guess." _Better_.

Madara frowns. "What is…? Tobirama, why're you here?"

"He's my best friend, he's over all the time." Izuna says dryly. 

Tobirama shoots him a sly smirk before putting his elbows on the table and his hands under his chin, looking the picture of childish curiosity.

"That's why you and Madara hang out so much, right?" Tobirama asks his brother. "Because you're _best friends_?" Maybe a little menace leaks out, but Izuna enjoys the show all the same.

Hashirama sputters.

"Uh huh, that's why you're skipping school on Valentine's Day together, right?" Izuna joins in innocently. "Because you're best friends."

Madara tilts his head consideringly.

"Dial the smile back, you're getting too old for that to fool anyone." Madara pauses, squinting at him. "And maybe go for slightly bored instead of innocent."

Izuna nods and makes the adjustment. Madara smiles approvingly.

"Better." 

In his now bored voice, Izuna asks, "So, you two are dating, right?"

Madara's face reddens, suddenly realizing what Izuna and Tobirama were trying to get out of them. 

"That's– that's none of your business!"

Okay, that's slightly irritating.

"Uh, yeah, it kind of is when you spend all your time with _him_. Half-day hasn't changed—I always wait for you because we're supposed to walk home together. But you didn't even notice, did you?" He can't help his bitter tone, though he refrains from adding, _you don't notice_ **_me_** _._

"Yeah, you're supposed to stay at home with him because your dad works, right? He's barely eight—he could hurt himself!" Tobirama supports unhelpfully.

"I could hurt myself drinking water. It's not a big deal." Izuna retorts quickly, not wanting his independence to be infringed on. He's perfectly mature enough to be left on his own, thanks. "But you should be better at keeping him company—Tobirama totally misses you!" Izuna accuses Hashirama, who wilts dramatically at his tone.

Tobirama flushes. "N-not really!" He squeaks.

Hashirama looks up, a brighter expression on his face.

"Do _you_ , Tobirama? Aww, I thought you couldn't wait to be rid of me!"

"D-don't be stupid." Tobirama huffs. "You're my brother."

Madara gives Izuna a concerned look.

"…Do you really think all that?"

Izuna feels bad. He hadn't meant to put his brother on the spot like that.

"…Kinda. I mean, if you guys are happy together, then that's good, but– I dunno." 

"Just wish you'd told us." Tobirama says for him. 

Madara bites his lip and shares a look with Hashirama. They both care about their brothers more than they care about being unofficial.

Hashirama smiles and reaches forward to ruffle their hair.

"Okay, then. Yes—we're dating. We didn't mean to leave you guys in the dark like that. Could you forgive us?"

Tobirama's eyes wander, obviously thinking.

"…Yeah. Yeah, I forgive you."

"…'Course I forgive you." Izuna takes Tobirama's lead. "Just– as long as we spend time together, sometimes."

Tobirama nods quickly.

Madara laughs in relief. "How did you two become thick as thieves, huh?"

Izuna meets Tobirama's eyes.

"Secret."

**Author's Note:**

> i think you can tell i was really fantasizing about snow and the cold. if only… also, i wanted to bring up tobi sneaking binoculars to school for no other reason than to stalk his brother afterwards, but it didn't really fit :P


End file.
